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The rivalry between Devon and Cornwall over the correct order of cream and jam on a scone is one of the country’s fiercest disputes, and locals are expected to know where their side stands.

A National Trust property in Cornwall therefore prompted understandable outrage after it advertised cream teas for Mother’s Day - with a photograph showing the cream being spread before the jam.

The advert, from Lanhydrock House and Garden, has been called “unacceptable”, “shocking” and “disgusting”, with some Cornish people threatening to cancel their memberships.

The scone shown in the advert has cream spread over each half, with jam spooned on top.

The traditional Cornish cream tea, however, is supposed to have the cream on top of the jam.

Facebook users were unhappy with the error, which the property blamed on a member of staff.

A statement said: "We'd like to sincerely apologise for any offence caused by a recent scone-shot shown on the page.

''The member of staff responsible has been reprimanded and marched back over the Tamar.

"We'd like to reassure our Cornish community that our catering team would never make such a heinous mistake and that our jam and cream are usually served in little pots so the order of their application is not subject to such appalling error. Rest assured, your mothers are safe here."

Lanhydrock House and Gardens is one of around fifty National Trust properties in CornwallCredit:
Paul Melling/Alamy

While the post may seem like a harmless PR blunder, some members threatened to vote with their feet, and cancel their annual memberships.

One Facebook user wrote: “The National Trust is in a complete mess.

''Still letting so called trail hunts using your land and now this. It's jam first your [sic] fools . My membership is well and truly over."

Another said: “Think my mum would disown me if I gave her this cream tea”.

A family membership of the charity costs £120 per year. Earlier this month, the Trust increased the price by £5.40, to address soaring costs of maintaining its 200 properties and surrounding grounds.

Lanhydrock House is one of around 50 National Trust-owned properties and grounds in Cornwall, and dates from the Victorian era. It has been owned by the charity since 1953.

The Trust’s online mistake drags it into a long and hard-fought battle between Devon and Cornwall over the order of cream tea ingredients.

In 2010, campaigners from Devon applied to have the ‘Devon cream tea’ given Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status under EU law, which would stop rivals using the same name.

The campaign was launched after traditionalists worried that some cafe owners were using whipped cream instead of clotted cream.

In 1998, Cornwall succeeded in having ‘Cornish clotted cream’ assigned PDO status under an EU directive, as long as the milk is produced in Cornwall and the cream has a fat content of more than 55 per cent.

The exact origin of the cream tea is not known, although local historians revealed in 2014 that they had found evidence of monks serving clotted cream and strawberry preserves with bread as long as 1,000 years ago.